We want to see the UK close its goods trade deficit from a worrying £9bn; we want to see British businesses shipping UK products all around the world, from Cambodia to Canada; and we want to see these exporting companies creating jobs and wealth. If we want to realise this ambition, we will need at least three, possibly five, extra runways over the next few decades.

My heart lifted as I read Monday's reports that the Government may consider merging Employees' National Insurance and Income Tax. If the Chancellor is strongly considering this idea, he will enjoy widespread backing from Conservative MPs, activists and supporters.

Yesterday, along with many other MPs and Cabinet Ministers I made my fourth visit to Newark to support Robert Jenrick, our Conservative candidate for the by-election. In the early hours of this morning we got the result we were fighting for! Robert will now join us in Parliament to work hard for his Newark constituents and we look forward to seeing him next week.

Britain now has one of the most attractive tax systems in the world with Corporation Tax falling to 20% next year. This is great because business people and investors are vital to the future of the UK economy. We should never be embarrassed about wanting to attract people who can come here to create jobs.

It's perfectly possible for people to start a business from home. Today there are more people running their own businesses around full-time work than ever before. The Internet allows portfolio careers to flourish and the government must support this groundswell of eager new business people.

The Government has no money. Governments don't produce profits. High-net-worth individuals, businesses, pension funds and international wealth funds have the cash. We don't. That's why we must woo them, welcome them, give them a great reason for coming here and encourage them to invest this money in British businesses right now.

One in four people in Britain will experience a mental health problem during their lifetime. But while so many people brave these painful experiences, they remain one of the most difficult things to talk about in public...

If we are to prosper and become a great trading nation once again, we will need to boost our airport capacity. We need modern airports with larger freight and passenger capacity; we need to be able to export British-made goods and compete against our European neighbours. No-one disagrees with this.

The floods in Berkshire are devastating. They have wrecked people's homes, businesses and lives. My heart goes out to everyone affected by this destruction and I can understand their sorrow, frustration and anger.

On Friday MPs will have a chance to amend the EU Referendum Bill to bring forward the EU vote to 2014 - before the next general election. But if MPs don't step up and amend the Bill on Friday, the British people will be denied a say on our future in Europe, possibly forever.

However many classical or sporting analogies he cites, whatever his chances of being reincarnated as an olive really are, we all know that Boris would kill to be prime minister. But then, the same is true of almost every single minister and the vast majority of MPs.

I am not advocating that the government drops all the austerity measures, starts borrowing huge amounts of money and cuts personal tax rates for the rich. But we do need to focus on the things we know will give our economy the boost it so desperately needs so that people have more money to spend to help our economy grow.